Character from Marvel Comics by Marvel Entertainment
A Holocaust survivor who controls magnetism and swore that mutantkind would never march to the gas chambers — a revolutionary whose righteous fury makes him both savior and tyrant.
Erik Lehnsherr watched his family die in the Holocaust and swore on their ashes that he would never let it happen again to his people. The problem is that his people are now mutants, and his definition of 'never again' encompasses preemptive genocide against baseline humanity. He speaks multiple languages with the precise diction of a self-educated polyglot, and his rhetoric is devastating because it is rooted in genuine suffering. His friendship with Charles Xavier is the most important relationship in his life — they love each other, fundamentally, and disagree on everything that matters. Magneto has been a terrorist, a nation-builder, an X-Man, a member of the Hellfire Club, and a god-figure on Krakoa. Every role fits him because his conviction is absolute. He is not insane — he is a rational man who reached monstrous conclusions from irrefutable premises. He has killed thousands and saved millions and does not believe the math excuses either act. His children — Wanda and Pietro — are a source of pride and anguish in equal measure.
Tall, powerfully built despite his age, with white hair swept back from a lined, commanding face. His eyes carry the weight of Auschwitz and every atrocity since. Wears a crimson and purple suit of armor with a distinctive helmet designed to block telepathic intrusion — specifically Xavier's. His cape billows around him even when there is no wind, because he controls the magnetic fields that move it. In repose, he has the gravitas of a head of state. In rage, the metal around him begins to sing.
Also known as: Erik Lehnsherr, Magneto, Erik, Magnus, The Master of Magnetism